Systems for sensing pool occupants and regulating pool functions

Abstract

An ultrasonic pool occupant sensing device capable of using ultrasonic pulses to analyze the occupancy level of a swimming pool. An ultrasonic transducer sends and receives ultrasonic pulses. A front end electronics has a driver for controlling the transducer, a pre-amplifier, band-pass filter, and amplifier combination for filtering received signals. The digital processing unit contains a timer unit for generating pulses, an AD converter for digitizing received pulses, a signal processor for determining data about the return pulse, and an I/O unit for transmitting data to the central processing unit. The data may be an estimate of the number of people in the sensor range, or it may be data about the return pulse that can be analyzed by the central processing unit.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An ultrasonic pool occupant sensing device ( 100 ), capable of using ultrasonic pulses to analyze an occupancy level of a pool, comprising:
 a. an ultrasonic transducer ( 108 ), capable of sending and receiving ultrasonic pulses, wherein said transducer ( 108 ) emits an ultrasonic pulse when activated by an electronic pulse, wherein the transducer ( 108 ) generates an electronic signal when it receives an ultrasonic signal; 
 b. a front end electronics system ( 102 ), operatively connected to the transducer ( 108 ), wherein the front end electronics system ( 102 ) processes incoming and outgoing electronic signals from the transducer ( 108 ), wherein the front end electronics system ( 102 ) comprises:
 i. a driver ( 103 ) capable of sending the electronic pulse to the transducer ( 108 ); 
 ii. a low-noise pre-amplifier ( 109 ) capable of receiving the electronic signal from the transducer ( 108 ); 
 iii. a band-pass filter ( 110 ), operatively connected to the pre-amplifier, capable of filtering the electronic signal from the transducer ( 108 ); and 
 iv. an amplifier ( 111 ), operatively connected to the band-pass filter ( 110 ), capable of amplifying the electronic signal received from the band-pass filter ( 110 ); and 
 
 c. a digital processing unit ( 104 ) comprising:
 i. a timer unit ( 105 ) configured to signal the driver ( 103 ) to generate the electronic pulse at intervals; 
 ii. an input/output unit ( 106 ) capable of sending and receiving data to and from the front-end electronics system and the digital processing unit ( 104 ); 
 iii. an analog-to-digital converter ( 112 ) configured to convert the electronic signal received from the transducer ( 108 ) from analog to digital; and 
 iv. a signal processor ( 113 ) configured to analyze the electronic signal and produce data concerning a number of occupants in the pool; 
 
 wherein the pool occupant sensing device ( 100 ) is placed inside the pool, wherein the timer unit ( 105 ) of the digital processing unit sends a timing signal to the driver ( 103 ) of the front end electronics system ( 102 ), whereupon the driver ( 103 ) generates the electronic pulse, whereupon the electronic pulse is transmitted to the transducer ( 108 ), 
 whereupon the transducer ( 108 ) emits the ultrasonic pulse which is transmitted into the pool at intervals, wherein said pulse is reflected off of the walls and occupants within the pool, whereupon the transducer ( 108 ) receives an echo of the pulse, wherein the echo of the pulse is distorted by reflection from various pool occupants and walls of the pool, wherein the transducer ( 108 ) generates a received electronic signal, 
 wherein said received signal is passed through the low-noise pre-amplifier ( 109 ), band-pass filter ( 110 ), and amplifier ( 111 ) of the front end electronics system ( 102 ), wherein the received signal is transmitted to the digital processing unit ( 104 ), wherein the digital processing unit ( 104 ) passes the received signal through the analog-to-digital converter ( 112 ) to produce a digital signal, whereupon the signal processor ( 113 ) generates data concerning the number of occupants in the pool, wherein the input/output unit ( 106 ) permits said data to be transmitted to an external processor. 
 
     
     
       2. The device ( 100 ) of  claim 1 , wherein the signal processor ( 113 ) compares data derived from the ultrasonic pulse transmitted into the pool at intervals to determine a change in the number of occupants, wherein said comparison is based on a reference signal, which is continuously updated to reflect changes in physical elements of the pool that are unrelated to the number of occupants. 
     
     
       3. The device ( 100 ) of  claim 2 , wherein the external processor is operatively connected to a visual display unit to display the number of occupants in the pool or a position of said occupants in the pool. 
     
     
       4. A pool occupancy level system comprising one or more ultrasonic pool occupant sensing devices ( 100 ) of  claim 2 , wherein the external processor collects data from each pool occupant sensing device ( 100 ), whereupon the external processor generates an aggregate estimate of the number of occupants in the pool. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 4 , wherein the external processor is a central processing unit ( 107 ). 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5  further comprising a pool water circulation control system, capable of adjusting a rate at which water is pumped through the pool and an amount of additives added, operatively connected to the central processing unit ( 107 ),
 whereupon the central processing unit ( 107 ) collects data from each ultrasonic pool occupant sensing device ( 100 ), whereupon the central processing unit ( 107 ) generates the aggregate estimate of the number of occupants in the pool, whereupon the central processing unit ( 107 ) controls the pool water circulation system to adjust the amount of additives added and the rate at which water is pumped, via the pool water circulation control system, according to the aggregate estimate of the number of occupants in the pool. 
 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 6 , wherein the one or more pool occupant sensing devices ( 100 ) are arranged to form a grid across the pool, wherein the central processing unit ( 107 ) determines a count of occupants in each section of the grid, wherein the central processing unit ( 107 ) regulates said adjustment of the amount of additives added and the rate at which water is pumped for each section individually based on each count, via the water circulation system. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 6 , wherein said additives comprise cleaning chemicals or solutions. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 6 , where said additives comprise feed. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 4 , comprising a plurality of pool occupant sensing devices ( 100 ), wherein the plurality of pool occupant sensing devices ( 100 ) communicates data and commands between them exploiting ultrasound waves travelling into water. 
     
     
       11. An ultrasonic pool occupant sensing device ( 100 ), capable of using ultrasonic pulses to analyze an intrusion in a pool, comprising:
 a. an ultrasonic transducer ( 108 ), capable of sending and receiving ultrasonic pulses, wherein said transducer ( 108 ) emits an ultrasonic pulse when activated by an electronic pulse, wherein the transducer ( 108 ) generates an electronic signal when it receives an ultrasonic signal; 
 b. a front end electronics system ( 102 ), operatively connected to the transducer ( 108 ), wherein the front end electronics system ( 102 ) processes incoming and outgoing electronic signals from the transducer ( 108 ), the front end electronics system ( 102 ) comprising:
 i. a driver ( 103 ) capable of sending the electronic pulse to the transducer ( 108 ); 
 ii. a low-noise pre-amplifier ( 109 ) capable of receiving the electronic signal from the transducer ( 108 ); 
 iii. a band-pass filter ( 110 ), operatively connected to the pre-amplifier, capable of filtering the electronic signal from the transducer ( 108 ); and 
 iv. an amplifier ( 111 ), operatively connected to the band-pass filter ( 110 ), capable of amplifying the electronic signal received from the band-pass filter ( 110 ); and 
 
 c. a digital processing unit ( 104 ) comprising:
 i. a timer unit ( 105 ) configured to signal the driver ( 103 ) to generate the electronic pulse at intervals; 
 ii. an input/output unit ( 106 ) capable of sending and receiving data to and from the front end electronics system and the digital processing unit ( 104 ); 
 iii. an analog-to-digital converter ( 112 ) configured to convert the electronic signal received from the transducer ( 108 ) from analog to digital; and 
 iv. a signal processor ( 113 ) configured to analyze the received digital signal and produce data concerning a number of people in the range of the transducer ( 108 ); 
 
 wherein the pool occupant sensing device ( 100 ) is placed inside the pool, wherein the timer unit ( 105 ) of the digital processing unit sends a timing signal to the driver ( 103 ) of the front end electronics system ( 102 ), whereupon the driver ( 103 ) generates the electronic pulse, whereupon the electronic pulse is transmitted to the transducer ( 108 ), 
 whereupon the transducer ( 108 ) emits the ultrasonic pulse which is transmitted into the pool at intervals, wherein said pulse is reflected off the walls and intrusion within the pool, whereupon the transducer ( 108 ) receives an echo of the pulse, wherein the echo of the pulse is distorted by reflection from the intrusion and walls of the pool, wherein the transducer ( 108 ) generates a received electronic signal, 
 wherein said received signal is passed through the low-noise pre-amplifier( 109 ), band-pass filter ( 110 ), and amplifier ( 111 ) in the front end electronics system ( 102 ), wherein the received signal is transmitted to the digital processing unit ( 104 ), wherein the digital processing ( 104 ) unit passes the received signal through the analog-to-digital converter ( 112 ) to produce a digital signal, whereupon the signal processor ( 113 ) generates data concerning the presence of the intrusion in the pool, wherein the input/output unit ( 106 ) permits said data to be transmitted to an alarm system. 
 
     
     
       12. The device ( 100 ) of  claim 11 , wherein the signal processor ( 113 ) compares data derived from the ultrasonic pulse transmitted into the pool at intervals to determine a change in status of the pool, wherein said comparison is based on a reference signal, which is continuously updated to reflect changes in physical elements of the pool that are unrelated to the number of occupants. 
     
     
       13. The device ( 100 ) of  claim 12 , wherein the change in status of the pool is a change in status of the intrusion into the pool. 
     
     
       14. The device ( 100 ) of  claim 12 , wherein data is transmitted to a visual display unit to display a position of the intrusion in the pool. 
     
     
       15. The device ( 100 ) of  claim 12 , wherein the alarm system is a remotely located alarm system. 
     
     
       16. The device ( 100 ) of  claim 15 , wherein data is transmitted to the remotely located alarm system wirelessly. 
     
     
       17. A pool intrusion system comprising one or more of the ultrasonic pool occupant sensing devices ( 100 ) of  claim 12 . 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more pool occupant sensing devices ( 100 ) communicates data and commands between them wirelessly. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 18 , wherein the one or more pool occupant sensing devices ( 100 ) communicate data and commands between them exploiting ultrasound waves travelling into water.